Fuknituke structure



March 3, 1964 J. H. WILSON FURNITURE STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 25, 1959 FIG 7 James H. Wilson BY w W FIG.5.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,123,399 FURNITURE STRUCTURE James H. Witson, Sturgis, Mich, assignor, by mesne assignments, to The General Fireproofing (Iompany, Youngstown, (thin, a corporation of Uhio Fiied (Bet. 223, 1959, er. No. 843,299 4 @lahns. (El. 297 239) This invention relates to furniture of the type which can be stacked telescopically with identical pieces, one upon another.

One object of the invention is to provide bases for furniture of the above type having improved means for spacing like pieces apart in a stack. Another ob ect s to provide furniture bases with novel spacing means which make it possible to stack furniture quietly, Without the usual noisy clatter. Another object is to provide convenient means for linking chairs or the like together side by side.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved stackable chairs.

In accordance with the invention I provide, on the type of stacking furniture which has upwardly converging legs, a spacer on the upper or lower surface of each leg, and I connect the two spacers on each side with a cross-tie web which is positioned outside the pair of legs to which the spacers are attached. The spacers and the cross-tie web preferably are made of suitable plastics to obtain qu etness in stacking and unstacking. The cross-tie 'webs guide the furniture laterally during stacking onto an identical piece, in addition to adding strength and rigidity to the furniture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chair 19 made in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing chair It) stacked upon another chair 10a of identical configuration;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the chair base;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the chair base, a vertical section of the seat Where it overlies the front element 13 of the base being shown;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on line 66 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section showing how two of these chairs can be linked together side by side.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate the same or similar parts, there is shown by way of illustration a chair 10 made in accordance with my invention, comprising a seat 11 attached to the top of a base 12. Base 12 comprises a pair of inverted U-shaped front and rear standards 13 and 14 formed of metal tubing and secured together at their upper ends by a connecting bar 1 5 welded to both. As best seen in FIG. 2 the standards are inclined with respect to each other so that the front and rear legs 16 and 17 formed by the respective sides of the U-shaped standards converge upwardly. Seat 11 is not as broad as standards 13 and 14, and the back portion 11a of the seat inclines slightly upwardly and rearwardly, so that identical chairs may be nested vertically by telescoping them, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

To space apart the seat and base of each chair from the adjacent chairs in a stack, to hold the chairs of a stack securely in precise relative position, to guide each chair accurately into position on a stack, and to strengthen the individual chair bases, I provide on each lateral side a combined bracing and spacing means 18 comprising a pair of spacers 19 fixedly attached respectively to the front and rear legs on that side, preferably to the under- 2 sides thereof by suitabie means such as a screw 23, and a cross-tie web on the outer sides of said legs, fixed by adhesive or other means at its ends to the outer sides of the respective spacers. It is not essential that spacers 19 be on the lower sides of the legs. They may be placed on the upper sides, or on the upper sides of some legs and on the lower sides of others.

Spacers 19 are contoured on opposite sides, as best shown in FIG. 5, to fit the two corresponding legs 16, 16a of different chairs between which they serve as spacers, and are made of a suitable soft tough material, molded linear polyethylene or tenite being preferred. Webs 20 may be of the same material as, and may if desired be formed integrally with the pair of spacers 19, but I prefer to form them separatel stamped out of plastic sheet or of sheet metal.

To provide means for linking chairs together side by side, the cross-tie web on one side is formed with an outwardly extending hook 21 having a downwardly extending outer portion, and the cross-tie web on the other side is formed with a hookeceiving aperture 22 into which the hook 21 of an identical chair may be placed to link the two chairs side by side, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The cross-tie webs serve to strength the chair base, to guide the chair into stacking position on the next lower chair, and to secure the stack together laterally. When the webs and spacers are made of suitable plastic materials they provide very quiet means for stacking. Bases such as 12 may, of course, be used for stackable tables, or the like.

Various changes within the scope of the appended claims will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a furniture base for pieces of furniture adapted to be stacked telescopically with identical pieces one upon another in columns, said base compris ng two pairs of legs, one pair on each lateral side of said base, the legs of each pair being inclined from each other so as to converge upwardly, the improvement which comprises two combined bracing and spacing means one on each lateral side of said base, each one of said means comprising a cross-tie web disposed on the outer sides of the pair of legs on the respective lateral side of said base, and a pair of spacers extending inwardly from said web between said last-named pair of legs, one spacer adjacent each leg of said last-named pair of legs, said last named means being attached to each leg of said last-named pair of legs, said spacers being adapted to rest on the respective legs of the base of an identical piece of furniture upon Which said first-named base is stacked, to space said pieces apart.

2. In a furniture base, the improvement defined by claim 1, said spacers being directly attached respectively to the adjacent legs of said last-named pair of legs.

3. In a furniture base, the improvement defined by claim 1, said pair of spacers each having a bearing surface for resting upon another base, said bearing surfaces converging upwardly in parallelism respectively with the adjacent legs of said last-named pair of legs.

4. In a furniture base, the improvement as defined by claim 3, each said bearing surface comprising a groove having an axis parallel with the adjacent one of said lastnamed pair of legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,748 Schuman Sept. 25, 1923 2,109,484 Hothersall Mar. 1, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 576,293 Canada May 19, 1959 601,889 Great Britain May 13, 1948 1,114,165 France Dec. 12, 1955 

1. IN A FURNITURE BASE FOR PIECES OF FURNITURE ADAPTED TO BE STACKED TELESCOPICALLY WITH IDENTICAL PIECES ONE UPON ANOTHER IN COLUMNS, SAID BASE COMPRISING TWO PAIRS OF LEGS, ONE PAIR ON EACH LATERAL SIDE OF SAID BASE, THE LEGS OF EACH PAIR BEING INCLINED FROM EACH OTHER SO AS TO CONVERGE UPWARDLY, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES TWO COMBINED BRACING AND SPACING MEANS ONE ON EACH LATERAL SIDE OF SAID BASE, EACH ONE OF SAID MEANS COMPRISING A CROSS-TIE WEB DISPOSED ON THE OUTER SIDES OF THE PAIR OF LEGS ON THE RESPECTIVE LATERAL SIDE OF SAID BASE, AND A PAIR 